


Whumptober 2020 - 03 - Easy Trouble

by Celticgal1041



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kneeling, Robbery, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celticgal1041/pseuds/Celticgal1041
Summary: “You’re hurt, I’m hurt. It’s not like we ever do things the easy way.”
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949548
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 2020 - 03 - Easy Trouble

“Faster!” the large man screamed at Rick, unhappy with the amount of time it was taking the bar owner to empty La Mariana’s cash register.

“I’m going as fast as I can, man,” Wright replied, his eyes darting briefly to his right where Magnum kneeled uneasily with a gun to his head. “Just don’t want to miss any of the bigger bills near the bottom.” The comment seemed to placate the man who glanced towards his partner, who was guarding the P.I.

Rick grabbed another handful of cash, stuffing it into the bag he’d been given by the robbers. Technically, the bar was closed, but Thomas had been hanging out with his friend while they waited for TC to arrive. The pilot had a favour to ask and, given how frequently the man had helped Magnum with a case, there was no way the P.I. could refuse. They’d agreed to meet at La Mariana that morning, before the bar opened, but after TC’s sunrise tour. As a result, Rick had left the sign out front flipped to “closed” but hadn’t bothered locking the front doors so TC could walk right in. It was a mistake he now regretted.

Stealing another glance in Magnum’s direction, Rick noted his friend’s pallor and watched as he swayed, the man behind him reacting by placing his finger on the pistol’s trigger. “Hey, itchy trigger finger, there’s no need for that,” Wright called as his hands continued to automatically scoop up cash. There wasn’t much in the till since he’d placed the majority of the prior evening’s earnings into the safe, but the two-man crew robbing him hadn’t yet clued into that fact.

Itchy looked over at his partner, who gave a nod to confirm there was no need to start shooting anyone…yet. If there was anything Rick was good at, it was reading people. Nuzo had once called it his superpower, and Wright couldn’t disagree. What he was seeing now worried him - a lot.

The man watching him was huge, and Rick automatically labeled him the Hulk. Even without being armed, the man would be tough to bring down. Itchy was smaller in stature, but the gun aimed at Thomas’ head was a great deterrent, meaning there was no way Wright would be able to deal with both men on his own.

“How you holding up there, Tommy?” Rick called, keeping his voice casual.

Magnum’s gaze moved in his friend’s direction, but his eyes tracked slowly, his body swaying once more as he tried to maintain his balance. “’M fine,” he slurred in reply, forcing Rick to concentrate hard on maintaining a neutral expression. Clearly, Thomas was anything but fine, and he’d bet on a mild concussion at the very least. Add to that the injury to his leg and Thomas would be lucky to get out of hospital in under a week.

Rick’s fingers scraped across smooth plastic, pulling his attention back to the now empty cash drawer. He would’ve preferred to have more time to plan, but there was no way he’d be able to fool Hulk into believing he was still stuffing money into the sack in his left hand. Pinning a grin to his face, Rick addressed the man. “Sorry, yesterday wasn’t all that great and we haven’t had any customers yet today,” he said as he moved slowly out from in behind the bar.

Not receiving any signs that he should stop, he continued moving forward, hoping to close the distance between himself and the Hulk before he needed to act. “See,” he continued, now holding up the bag in his hand, his eyes firmly glued to the other man’s as he waited for his opportunity.

As soon as the Hulk’s gaze shifted to the upheld bag, Rick threw it at Itchy, hoping Magnum still had enough awareness left to participate in his own rescue. As he released the bag, Wright ran quickly forward, taking every bit of his momentum and concentrating it on the large robber’s midsection as he buried his shoulder in the man’s gut. The tackle brought them both to the ground, with Rick on top of the other man, and he wasted no time pummeling the man’s face with his fists.

Across the room, Thomas had picked up on Rick’s body language, even though he’d admit that his friend’s features had been blurring badly since the hit to his head. As soon as he caught sight of an object being thrown in his direction, he’d moved, throwing himself sideways to get away from the pistol at the back of his skull.

Itchy startled when Magnum moved, and his finger reflexively squeezed the trigger. The discharge left the detective’s left ear ringing, but he’d moved far enough away that the bullet missed him. Dizzy and disoriented, Thomas rolled onto his hands and knees in preparation to stand, but his right leg collapsed under him, dropping him heavily back to the ground. Grunting with pain, his hands reached for his throbbing knee, feeling the swollen mass pressing against his pant leg.

“You bastard!” Itchy raged as he planted his foot in Magnum’s stomach, causing him to curl forward further. The next kick struck Thomas’ injured knee, pulling forth a howl of pain as his world whited out.

Rick heard Magnum’s cry and wanted desperately to help his friend, but he was in trouble too. Following his initial surprise attack, the Hulk had recovered, and had already landed several strong blows that had Rick protecting his now damaged left side. His bottom lip was also bleeding freely along with a jagged cut that had opened above his right eye.

He watched as the Hulk pulled his right arm back for another strike and managed to duck under it gracelessly, stumbling a few steps away to give himself a few moments’ reprieve. Scanning the floor around them, he tried to find the robber’s gun, but it was nowhere to be found.

Lifting an arm up he managed to divert another hit, but the power of it had him staggering backwards once more to trip over a damaged barstool lying on the ground. Now certain he’d won, the Hulk laughed at the sight of the bar owner on the ground, and Rick’s stomach dropped as he realized he’d failed.

“What the hell?” TC exclaimed as he took in the presence of two unknown men and the damaged furniture surrounding them.

Rick’s head swung around in surprise, his expression of shock turning to pleasure a moment later when he saw not only TC but Higgins standing inside the bar. Without waiting for an explanation, the two waded into the fray, TC heading directly for the Hulk while Higgins turned her attention to Itchy.

Rick merely grinned from the ground where he sat, watching the two newcomers dispatch the would-be-robbers without even breaking a sweat. A minute later it was over, and the two men had been restrained with zip-ties from the stock room.

Rick had managed to stumble over to Magnum where Higgins was trying to rouse the man, while TC made a quick call to the police. “What happened to him,” Juliet asked as she pinched Thomas’ earlobe in an effort to wake him up.

Sitting on the ground on the P.I.’s other side, Wright groaned unhappily as the pain in his ribs flared. Wrapping his right arm around his side to stabilize it, he replied, “What didn’t happen to him. You know how easily he finds trouble.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” TC agreed as he shoved his cellphone into his pocket. “Katsumoto has a couple units on the way and the ambulance is ten minutes out.” His eyes narrowed in worry as he took in Thomas’ unmoving and crumpled state. “Is he okay?”

Rick gave a one-armed shrug, unwilling to antagonize his aching left side. “Like always, he took the brunt of it.”

TC’s brow furrowed as Higgins waited expectantly for more. “Maybe you’d better start from the beginning, Orville,” the larger man suggested.

Sighing carefully in deference to his damaged ribs, Wright explained. “We were just hanging out while we waited for you, and I’d left the front doors unlocked.” He shook his head, a guilty expression on his face. “That was really stupid of me.”

“And these guys waltzed in here and tried to rob you?” TC extended, having seen a few bills poking out of the discarded bag on the ground.

Rick gave a tired nod in reply, prompting Higgins to chime in. “Then these two genius robbers are obviously the stupid ones. I mean who robs a bar in the morning before you’ve had any customers?”

Juliet’s disdain for the men brought a faint smile to Wright’s face, leaving him grimacing a moment later when it pulled uncomfortably on his split lip.

“Yeah, I thought the same thing, and all they would’ve gotten was the float I’d set up for today.” Rick explained.

Sensing there was more to the story, TC asked, “Since when are two guys too much for you and Thomas to handle?”

Wright winced again, this time from the memory of Itchy striking Magnum. “I had my back to the bar when they came in and they managed to get the drop on us. By the time I’d realized we weren’t alone, the shorter guy had pistol-whipped Thomas and ordered him to kneel. I could tell Tommy had had his bell rung pretty good, but he was determined to stay on his feet.”

“Is that how this happened?” Higgins asked, her fingers probing the swelling in Magnum’s leg.

“Yeah,” Rick answered, the word tasting like ash on his tongue. “The big guy forced him down by kicking his knee, and then made him get back up and stay kneeling.” He shook his head sadly at the memory. “It must have hurt like crazy.”

TC muttered a swear word beneath his breath, Wright nodding in agreement with the sentiment even though he’d been unable to make out the words. “They kept a gun to his head while I emptied the cash drawer, but I’m pretty sure they would have killed us if you hadn’t shown up.”

“HPD!” a voice called from the entryway, prompting Higgins to rise to greet the arriving police officers.

TC immediately took over the spot Juliet had vacated, probing the side of Magnum’s head now that he knew what he was looking for. Seconds later, Thomas’ eyes fluttered open, the injured man blinking several times as he tried to make sense of the blurry shapes around him.

“TC?” he breathed out, immediately followed by a moan, as his body complained about the abuse it had suffered.

“Yeah, man, just stay still,” Calvin confirmed, shifting his hand to cup the side of Magnum’s cheek and hold his head in place.

“Rick, you okay?” Thomas asked, his gaze skipping to the other man but unable to see well enough to confirm his friend’s state.

“Yeah, Tommy, I’m fine,” Rick replied, his tone a mix of amusement and affection.

“Good,” Magnum said softly, his eyes drooping closed.

“Hey, you need to stay awake for now, brother,” TC ordered as he lightly tapped the man’s face.

Thomas’ brow furrowed unhappily as he dragged heavy lids open, his eyes struggling to focus on his friend’s face. “’S too hard,” he mumbled.

More taps to his cheek had him opening his eyes once more, his expression a mix of annoyance and pain. “Stop that.” Rick chuckled, his breath hitching uncomfortably as the action pulled on his sore flank. New awareness shone in Magnum’s eyes as he noted his friend’s discomfort. “You’re hurt,” he stated accusingly.

Rick grinned and shook his head in mock exasperation. “You’re hurt, I’m hurt, but we’ll both be okay. It’s not like we ever do things the easy way.”

Magnum grinned back, prompting TC to follow suit and soon the men were chuckling softly to themselves. From across the room, an officer waited with Higgins for the paramedics to arrive. Seeing the men’s odd behaviour, he asked, “Are you sure they didn’t all suffer hits to the head?” Juliet merely smiled in reply.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Many thanks to AZGirl for proofing; all remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> This story was based on the day 3 prompt: My way or the highway: manhandled / forced to their knees / held at gunpoint
> 
> Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're so inclined!


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